Journal of Property Management

Magazine serving real estate managers.

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Articles from Vol. 65, No. 2, March

A Practical Guide to Using Letters of Intent

If properly used, a letter of intent can be a valuable time and cost-saving tool to real estate professionals in negotiating and documenting a real estate transaction. Using a letter of intent allows the parties to determine whether they can reach...

Three-year returns on the nation's welfare reform law appear to be positive. The White House recently released figures showing that since January 1993, welfare rolls have decreased sharply from 14.1 million to about 7.3 million nationally, with three-quarters...

With rental markets as good as they have ever have been, competing with an aging product is tough at best. The question of remodeling and how to go about it is a hot topic. One of our challenges at AIMCO, and I'm sure the challenge that most property...

Separating the Hype from the Savings Approximately 18 months ago, one of the hottest topics in real estate management was the tremendous savings that buildings could realize by buying electricity on the open market. Gas deregulation had resulted...

The Fair Housing Act was amended in 1988 to include broad accessibility requirements for new multifamily construction. In the 10 years since that amendment, multifamily housing providers, developers, architects, and engineers have often discovered...

Strategy 1: Stress Customer Service Begin by changing your office hours to 10:00 until 3:00, with an hour off for lunch. Leave a message on your answering machine that you will call back the next day in case of an emergency. Never stay open on weekends,...

Everyone knows the challenges of maintaining roofs, particularly those prone to leaks. Solving the problem can create a headache for most property managers, and though it may seem preposterous at first thought, a garden rooftop could be the solution....

New technology companies are starting up as fast as you can say T-1 line. Technology changes by the minute and young entrepreneurs, ready to be the next AOL, aren't wasting any time setting up shop. Though their business plan projections has them replacing...

As we head into the millennium, a manager has more ways of communicating then ever before. Yet, most of us usually only hear half of what is being said and, if speaking, are only putting forth half of the energy into communication that we should. Today's...

Negotiation is a process, not an event. That's the biggest lesson any new property manager can learn. All too often inexperienced managers believe a few sure-fire tricks they read about or hear on tape will give them the tools to negotiate the best...

Many commercial leases include provision stating that operating expenses or common area maintenance (CAM) should be prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Yet, inconsistencies may exist with GAAP and other provisions...

Information at Any Cost? American democracy is based on the free flow of information--the ability to know the facts and make an informed decision. And in this, the Information Age, never have more people had access to so much information, almost...

Marcus &amp; Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage is one of the leading players in real estate investment transactions. The majority of its business is with the private-client sector. William A. Millichap, president and CEO, offers some insight...

At one time, independent housing developers and owners believed they were in the business of providing shelter--a.k.a. bricks and mortar. Adding a clubhouse or pot luck supper was icing on the cake. Today, with the emergence of service-enriched,...

Faced with the endless twists and turns of Section 8 funding and the seeming dead ends of expiring contracts, real estate owners and managers are seeking the best strategy to preserve their investment and avoid negative tax positions for owners. ...

The alphabet soup that passes as the language of a cable contract is confusing enough to make you dyslexic. Learning to decipher the jargon and understand the terms is the only way to negotiate a good deal. Understanding a property's existing cable...

As e-mail, Internet, and other telecommunications options have come into common office use, employers are increasingly becoming concerned about the possible misuse of these technologies by employees. In order to protect its legitimate interests, the...

An Interview with Barry Libert In today's e-commerce feeding frenzy, those who own or manage traditional retail space may well be wondering if the market has passed them by. Barry Libert of Arthur Andersen says stop wondering: you bet it has. ...

With Employees like These, Who Needs Vandals? People and Property Loss

When it comes to preventing property damage and losses at the buildings you manage, your staff can either work for you or against you. People initiate over 70 percent of property losses or make them more severe. In addition, one out of every four fires...